On Minimal Compactifications of ℂ² (Q4344192)

The author studies normal two-dimensional projective algebraic Gorenstein varieties \(X\) over \(\mathbb{C}\) with the property that \(X\) contains a compact irreducible complex curve \(Y\) such that \(X\backslash Y\) is biholomorph to \(\mathbb{C}^2\). He calls such pairs \((X,Y)\) minimal compactifications of \(\mathbb{C}^2\) and classifies the situation where \(X=X_d\) is a hypersurface in \(\mathbb{P}_3\) of degree \(d\leq 4\). He proves that in this case the pair \((X_d,Y)\) is (up to deformation) isomorphic to the pair \((V_d, \Delta_d)\), where \[ \begin{aligned} V_d: & =\bigl\{ (z_0: z_1:z_2:z_3) \in\mathbb{P}_3 \mid z^d_0 -z_1^{d-1} z_2-z_2^{d-1} z_3=0 \bigr\} \\ \Delta_d: & =\bigl \{(0:z_1:0:z_3) \in\mathbb{P}_3\bigr\}. \end{aligned} \] \(X_d\) has a (unique) singular point and the author analyses in detail the graph of a minimal desingularisation of \(X_d\).